“Ideology as a Way of Life” Women like me, yes have been added over the years to overshadow what preceded us that is mostly not in line with our agenda. The accepted wording is not what will satisfy our desires – Desires? Ours? Well then, I write in the female first person plural so as not to sound as one who sins with pretension as an individual woman, however I do not have many female friends for this journey and those who have already passed through a station or two according to the fixed rules of society A woman like me tries to stay free from society and at the same time to be in it with boycotts in double-digit ages until the arrival of the adolescence age and beyond I bear this bitter insult…
Mickie McKinney: Boy Detective, Reincarnation
Hello Fictional Cafe readers. You all know me as your friendly Audio Arts barista. But today I’m going to talk about me: The author of Mickie McKinney: Boy Detective. You also know that I am one of many that searches the vast internet for those hidden gems, those artists who have just as much – if not more – talent as the rest, but don’t get quite as much recognition as they deserve. It can be a thankless volunteer job, but it can also be an inspirational one. Because we aren’t getting paid to put up these posts, nor do we need to be. We are a community of people who believe that everyone deserves their moment in the spotlight, and we try our best to find those who need that light the most. It’s…
“Virtual Math,” A Short Story by David Rogers
I meditated on this lost and perhaps mythical labyrinth . . . on the secret summit of some mountain . . . I imagined it infinite, . . . a sinuous, ever-growing maze which would take in both past and future and would somehow involve the stars. —Jorge Luis Borges, “The Garden of Forking Paths” “I did it,” Professor Radiant announced. “I’ve solved the problem of faster-than-light travel.” Radiant was the most senior member of La Mancha University’s Department of Mathematics, but no one listened to him. He was well known for his quixotic quests to solve problems like the Riemann hypothesis or to show Pi did, in fact, have a last digit. Of course these efforts never ended well. Thus, not until Professor Radiant made his claim about the secret of FTL travel…
Aislinn Feldberg — “Dream World”
Artist Statement: I enjoy experimenting and creating art with a dark, bizarre flair in order to create a dreamy scene or landscape. My work demonstrates conflicting natures of human nature or of materials (flowing delicacy or brutal strokes). I attempt to include sarcastic or whimsical humor in my art whenever I can. I draw inspiration from my surroundings and artists that I admire, such as Gaugin, Max Ernst, Frida Kahlo, Banksy, Vincent van Gogh and Yayoi Kusama. *** Aislinn Feldberg is a writer and visual artist from Queens, New York. She is currently a Junior with a major in Studio Arts at Bard College. Her work interweaves with prior dreams and gothic influences. You can find her on Wrongdoing Mag or her website: www.oddityplayground.com.
“Depth Perception,” A Short Story by David Patten
Depth Perception
“Lend Your Ears,” Poetry by Tapeshwar Prasad
Lend your ears I have other ways To enamour your heart Hark! My calligraphy Lending your ears On the wings of a butterfly – One flower to the next ** Colour of my grief I puff up the earth A little more, from Under my grave To see you blooming Colour of my grief – The blood of my poppies Rooting the nerves, inside ** Scarecrow of the night You have been So easy upon me Like a butterfly of my dreams Yet, the reality; outside was maintaining an eerie silence in this turbulent night I settled down With an imagery of the fore Cozy in my sleep Yet the evil spirit of the night Was hell bent over frightening me, with its Scarecrow imagery ** Trollybag I was all seeing – You, that were…
“Sound Escape Theater” Created by Jill Korn
Welcome back, for the last week of May, I’d like to introduce you to “Sound Escape Theater,” created by Jill Korn. To listen to a radio play is to become a character in someone else’s story. Bring your own imagination to our plays and let yourself be transported to other places, other times, other lives … How many years does it take to feel you really belong? For Francine, living on the Isle of Donan, nothing will ever be the same now that her reason for being here is gone. But Francine is a survivor. Outwardly conventional she may be, but like a true Frenchwoman, she’s up for a little rebellion when the opportunity arises. Galore! was conceived and produced during lockdown, and inspired by the beautiful Isle of Arran which lies off the west…
“Pain of the Poet,” Assamese Poetry by Guna Moran
PAIN OF THE POET Original: Assamese: Guna Moran Translation: Bibekananda Choudhury Creator means poet So many innumerable poems did my mother write In the fresh leaf of the heart From the date she conceived me in her womb Who has bothered about the silent poet? I don’t know how much help I could be Having now understood the value of labour of the creator At least I could discover my sangfroid brother As I write My mother lovingly serves a cup of tea And says, looking at me From the corner of her eyes “Poem is one only Only writer is different But the pain of all the poets are All the same” The sun is burning to light others— Fuel cannot give light to others Without burning itself Don’t write much My darling I…
“The Night’s End” Created by Jimmy Horrors
Happy May, Fictional Cafe Listeners! We’re going to start the month with “The Night’s End” podcast created by Jimmy Horrors. (With a name like that, you gotta wonder if he was born to be a horror writer or he chose to be). This is a short story podcast. With a focus on dark speculative fiction, it hopes to leave you wishing for the night’s end before each story is through. Back into the world of spine-tingling terror, Jimmy Horrors takes us into the mind of a man who is a guest of honor at a ball. Slowly, he realises that something is not quite right. Story was written by James Barnett Jimmy Horrors takes us on the journey of a woman who is a passenger on a bus. Not at all the type of bus…
“Sometimes We Fall,” Yong’s New Book!
SOMETIMES WE FALL takes readers into the lives of people searching for self, sense of belonging, and their version of truth: A son protects a secret that could destroy his family’s reputation and fortune. A daughter searches for the truth as her mother descends into dementia. A mother asks an unexpected friend to look after the baby she plans to abandon. Their paths are not easy and inevitably they fall. Some pick themselves up and some can’t or won’t as they struggle to find the reason for their failures. Yong Takahashi is the author of Observations Through Yellow Glasses, Rising, Sometimes We Fall, and The Escape to Candyland. She was a finalist in The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Southern Fried Karma Novel Contest, Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest, The Writers’ Mastermind Short…